What Really Happened to Baby Johan?

One of the most read articles this month is What really happened to baby Johan?, written by Elizabeth Weil in Matter.

It's the story of a father who dropped his three-month-old son, which became a criminal case. The article highlights the complexities and controversies of child welfare.

Neglect Versus "Free-Range" Parenting

NPR has a report on the debate between neglect and "free-range" parenting in the US. Note the chart with the varying ages that a child can be left alone depending on the state: from 6 in Kansas to 12 in Colorado.

The Connection Between Large-Scale Violence and Family Violence

Here's an excellent op-ed in The New York Times drawing connections between violence in the home and large-scale violence. As one commenter states, in order to curb violence in society, we have to start with our young children.

Child Sexual Abuse Images Online

Child sexual abuse images online (CSAIO) is a new area of child welfare that social workers should be more involved in developing. Here are two resources for addressing CSAIO:

• Cybertip is a tipline where you can report online sexual exploitation of children. It's also a good source of information on this topic.
• There is also a Virtual Global Taskforce that addresses online child abuse and other forms of transnational child sexual exploitation.

The Teenage Brain

Frances Jensen is a neurobiologist who has just published really interesting research on the development of teenagers brains. She found that the brains are developed but not fully insulated in the teenage years, and the last place to be insulated is the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for decision-making. That's why teenagers are generally more impulsive and make bad decisions. They are also more susceptible to addiction and the effects of drugs and alcohol. This article and interview on NPR's Fresh Air does a better job of explaining it all. What do you think about this research? Can you see the links to child welfare?

 

Manitoba to Spend More Money on Child Welfare

The province of Manitoba says it will spend more money to keep children who are wards of the province within their communities. There is an excellent interview on CBC's As It Happens (click on Part 2 to listen). I would be interested to know if you think this is a good use of money for child welfare in the province.

Update on an Assymetrical Conflict

As of today, the ongoing conflict between Israel and Gaza has resulted in an estimated 213 Palestinians dead versus one Israeli dead. As with other Israeli assaults on Gaza, the conflict is grossly asymmetrical. Canadian for Justice and Peace in the Middle East explains:

"Israel is a military superpower, with F-15 fighter jets, AH-64 Apache helicopters, sophisticated missiles, an anti-rocket defence system (and nuclear arms.) Hamas and other militant groups have primitive and ineffective – often “home made” – rockets." 

Indeed, Hamas rockets have killed one Israeli man who was delivering food to Israeli military personnel. But Israel seems to ignore the international law of proportionality, which permits countries to respond to threats, but the response must be proportional to the threat faced. If the rockets coming from Gaza have killed one person and Israel's response has killed over 200, then Israel's response should be questioned by the international community.

Of course, firing rockets from Gaza violates international law as well, for Hamas is certainly targeting civilians as well as military targets. And UNRWA found that Hamas stored 20 missiles inside an abandoned school in Gaza, which is also a violation of international law. But the brutal strikes on Palestinian civilian homes, cafes, and other civilian sites (whether or not Israel provided warnings to the inhabitants) violates international law too. For example, today, four young boys were killed by Israeli bombs while playing on a beach in Gaza. The New York Times photojournalist Tyler Hicks wrote a short piece about his experience photographing the event surrounding their deaths, noting

"A small metal shack with no electricity or running water on a jetty in the blazing seaside sun does not seem like the kind of place frequented by Hamas militants, the Israel Defense Forces’ intended targets. Children, maybe four feet tall, dressed in summer clothes, running from an explosion, don’t fit the description of Hamas fighters, either."

Below is a photo from the Middle East Children's Alliance of a Palestinian mother reacting to news that her son was among the four children killed on a Gaza beach. I don't usually like to post photos of such visceral pain and suffering, but I think it is important in this context, where Palestinians can be dehumanized through media reports and Israeli news conferences.

Photo: Ayman Mohyeldin

The fear/anger/sadness was also reported upon from another New York Times editorial written by Rula Salameh describing her experience in East Jerusalem, which has been threatened by long-range missiles from Hamas as well as other sites throughout Israeli.